History

The NCAA split its membership into the University and College Divisions in 1957. The University Division was for the association’s larger and more prevalent programs while the College Division hosted the association’s smaller, emerging programs. This split aimed to create association-wide competitive balance by acknowledging the difference in resources institutions were willing to devote to athletics. The association reorganized its divisional structure into three divisions in 1973. The University Division was renamed Division I while the College Division was split into Divisions II and III. Division II differed from Division III because it allowed members to offer student-athletes athletic scholarships. Each division was classified by its members’ ability to offer athletes financial aid and granted them the authority to establish legislation and postseason formats of their own.

Membership

Each Division maintains unique standards for active and provisional membership. Division II restricts membership to four-year institutions:

“An active member institution is a four-year college or university accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency (Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, The Higher Learning Commission, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and Western Association of Schools and Colleges) (see Bylaw 7.1.4.1.2.1 for the accreditation standard for an international institution) and duly elected to active membership under the provisions of this article.” [2]

“Membership is available to colleges, universities, and athletics conferences; that have acceptable academic standards (as defined in Bylaw 7.1.4.1.2, and for international institutions see Bylaw 7.1.4.1.2.1); and that are located in Canada, Mexico and the United States, its territories or possessions.” [2]

NCAA members are not prohibited from joining other governing bodies/organizations. Some Division II and III members compete in other organizations (e.g., the NCCAA) that provide supplemental postseason opportunities should they miss their respective division’s.

Structure

Division II is a sub-organization of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. NCAA members are governed by one of the association’s three divisions: Division I, Division II, and Division III.

Division II is organized by regions and conferences. Member institutions are assigned to a region with the option of also joining a conference.

Regions

Each Division II member is assigned to a Super Region. Teams are assigned to regions based on their geography and/or conference membership. Conferences and their members in the same geographical region are assigned to a Super Region. Independents are assigned to the Super Region that most surrounding institutions are also members of. For football, regional affiliation has direct implications on the postseason because the top-ranked teams from each region can earn an at-large berth to the playoffs.

Conferences

Every Division II member is permitted, but not obligated, to join a conference of their choosing. The main function of DII conferences is to schedule matchups for their members. Most Division II conferences are hyper-regional, meaning members hail from just one or a few neighboring states. This setup offers several assurances for members. First and foremost, conference members consistently compete against each other, which often promotes sustainable regional rivalries. It also keeps transportation costs low, an essential for colleges with limited athletics budgets. Larger conferences sometimes elect to establish divisions to regionalize their members further. Organizations with this structure can pit division champions against each other at the end of the regular season to crown a true conference champion.

Teams who choose not to join a conference, or “Independents,” are solely responsible for scheduling their games annually. Despite not being in a conference, independents are still eligible for a berth in the postseason.

Governance

Authority

The NCAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Organizations with this designation are tax-exempt, as outlined by 26 U.S. Code § 501 [3]:

“An organization described in subsection (c) or (d) or section 401(a) shall be exempt from taxation under this subtitle unless such exemption is denied under section 502 or 503.” [3]

“The following [exempt] organizations are referred to in subsection (a): Corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment), or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” [3]

The highest authority in the NCAA is the Board of Governors (the board):

“Bringing together presidents and chancellors from each division, former student-athletes, along with select leaders from inside and outside the NCAA membership, the board is responsible for leading the NCAA and presiding over issues that affect the entire NCAA membership.” [4]

While it is the foremost authority of the association, the Board of Governors acts largely in an advisory capacity. The board and all association-wide committees established by the board are not permitted to enact association-wide legislation or compel divisions to adopt legislation:

“Changes in legislation, however, require each division to take action. The Association-wide committees propose changes to the divisions, which then debate and vote on the proposals through their legislative processes. These committees explore issues impacting the health and safety of student-athletes or opportunities for women and minority groups in college sports.” [5]

Instead, each division has a governing structure that best suits its members needs:

“Each division shall determine its own governing structure and membership.” [6]

The highest authority in the division is the Executive Board (the Board):

“The Executive Board shall establish and direct the general policy of Division II.” [2]

The Management Council (the Council) reports directly to the Board and is considered the division’s foremost operational authority:

“The Management Council shall implement policies adopted by the NCAA Board of Governors and the Executive Board” [2]

Structure

The Executive Board consists of 14 members in total:

“The composition of the Executive Board shall include eight chancellors/presidents based on Division II championships region, one “at-large” chancellor/president to enhance diversity on the board, and two independent members who are not salaried by an NCAA member institution, conference or affiliated member and shall be approved, appointed and verified as independent by the Executive Board. The Executive Board shall also include two student-athletes serving on and chosen by the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (one representing male sports and one representing female sports) (see Bylaw 8.4.3.10.5). The chair of the Division II Management Council shall serve on the Executive Board as an exofficio, nonvoting member.” [2]

The Board is granted significant authority over the division’s various committees and bodies, including the Management Council. Powers and responsibilities of the Board include but are not limited to:

“Implement policies adopted by the NCAA Board of Governors;” [2]

“Establish a strategic plan and/or a set of strategic priorities for Division II;” [2]

“Sponsor amendments and amendments-to-amendments to the constitution by two-thirds majority vote;” [2]

“Sponsor Division II legislation or grant relief from the application of legislation in circumstances in which significant value are at stake or the use of the regular legislative process is likely to cause significant harm or hardship to the Association or the Division II membership because of the delay in its effective date;” [2]

“Adopt emergency legislation;” [2]

“Call for a special Convention of Division II;” [2]

“Delegate to the Management Council responsibilities for specific matters it deems appropriate;” [2]

“Approve recommendations of the Management Council (see Bylaw 8.2), including the composition of the Management Council;” [2]

“Ratify, amend or rescind the actions of the Management Council;” [2]

The Management Council is composed of at least five directors of athletics, five senior woman administrators, five faculty athletics representatives, and two conference office staff in the following manner:

“The composition of the Management Council shall include one member from each of the Division II multisport voting conferences; four “at-large” members to enhance efforts to achieve diversity of representation; and two student-athletes serving on and chosen by the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (one representing male sports and one representing female sports).” [2]

The powers and duties of the Council are granted by the Board and include but are not limited to:

“Make recommendations to the Executive Board on matters it deems appropriate;” [2]

“Adopt noncontroversial and intent-based amendments, administrative bylaws and regulations to govern Division II;” [2]

“Sponsor legislative proposals for a vote at the annual NCAA Convention;” [2]

“Take final action on matters delegated to it by the Executive Board;” [2]

“Review and act on the recommendations of the Division II committee structure and the recommendations of committees with Association-wide functions;” [2]

“Appoint the members of the Division II committee structure and appoint the Division II representatives to committees with Association-wide functions;” [2]

The division has numerous committees that accept input from institutional leaders, debate proposed legislation, and present self-sponsored proposals to the body they report to. Every committee reports directly to the Council except for the Administrative Committee, which reports to both the Council and the Board. Each committee is responsible for fulfilling the duties delegated to it by its reporting body including but not limited to hearings, appeals, and oversight. The composition of each committee varies by purpose.

Scheduling

Regular Season

Divisions of the association are tasked with establishing legislation related to scheduling requirements and procedures. Each division’s respective bylaws specify a minimum and maximum number of games its members and their student-athletes can partake in, as well as any other requirements.

Division II programs must play a minimum of 9 games and can play a maximum of 11 regular season contests:

“In each sport, the institution’s team shall engage in at least a minimum number [9] of intercollegiate contests (against four year, degree-granting collegiate institutions) each year.” [2]

“A member institution shall limit its total regular-season playing schedule with outside competition during the permissible football playing season in any one year to 11 contests (games and scrimmages), except as provided for member institutions located in Alaska and Hawaii under Bylaw 17.31.2 and except as provided for all members under Bylaws 17.11.8.3 and 17.11.8.4.” [2]

The following are not counted towards a member’s total number of regular season contests:

• Conference Championships
• Independent Championships
• Season-Ending Tournaments
• Alumni Game
• Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Canada
• Fundraising Activity
• Celebrity Sports Activity
• Spring Game
• Spring Game Scrimmage
• Postseason Bowl Game

The division does not perform the actual function of scheduling; rather, this responsibility is deferred to conferences, their member institutions, and independents. Conferences typically schedule a fixed number of matchups between their members, ensuring each team plays the same number of conference opponents. How a conference does this is determined internally. The remainder of a team’s schedule is open-ended. A team can fill it with opponents outside their conference or designate any remaining conference opponents as “non-conference.” As implied, independents are solely responsible for scheduling their games in a given season.

Conference Championships

Division II conference championship games are counted towards each institution’s playing season:

“A conference championship shall be counted as one contest or date of competition in determining the institution’s scheduled or completed contests or dates of competition in the sport, regardless of the number of dates or games involved in the championship. However, for purposes of this regulation, the calculation of scheduled contests or dates of competition in a particular season does not include postseason competition conducted after the completion of the institution’s regular season schedule and conference tournament.” [2]

“An institution’s intercollegiate season includes any scheduled participation in the conference championship in the sport in question but excludes the period between the last regularly scheduled competition and the NCAA championship in that sport.” [2]

“Conference championships must be included within the institution’s playing season.” [2]

A conference championship game, however, is not counted towards an institution’s regularly scheduled contest maximum:

“The maximum number of contests in football shall exclude competition in one conference championship tournament or playoff.” [2]

Conferences may host a championship game to bolster their members’ case for a postseason berth/invitation. Participating conferences will pit their two highest-seeded members or, if the conference has divisions, their two division crowns, against each other. A conference determines its highest seeds with internal metrics, which can also be applicable when selecting the site of the championship game. Conferences that do not host a designated championship game also utilize internal metrics to crown a regular season champion.

Postseason

Postseason play, including the Division II Football Championship and bowl games, begins after the regular season has concluded.

NCAA Division II Football Championship

Every DII program is eligible to compete for the Division II Football Championship. The DII playoffs is a 32-team field of automatic qualifiers and at-large bids. The Division II Football Committee publishes a Top-10 rankings in the final three weeks of the season for each Super Region. The committee meets at the conclusion of the regular season and ranks the top 10 teams in each Super Region one last time. Eight teams from each Super Region are selected to compete for the title. Each conference champion is granted an automatic berth to the playoffs. The remaining at-large slots are awarded to teams without a conference title. To be considered during the selection process, a team must possess the following qualifications:

“Have an overall won-lost record of .500 or better against Division II opponents;” [9]

“Play at least eight Division II opponents during the regular season; and” [9]

“Play at least nine opponents during the regular season.” [9]

The Division II Football Committee then uses the following criteria to select at-large bids:

• Availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships
• Nullification (a penalty imposed on an institution by the Championships Committee for permitting an ineligible student-athlete to compete in intercollegiate competition)
• In-region winning percentage
• Division II winning percentage
• Division II strength of schedule (opponents’ average winning percentage and opponents’ opponents’ average winning percentage)
• Division II head-to-head competition
• Results versus Division II common opponents
• Division II results vs. teams with a winning record
• Kevin Pauga Index (KPI)
• Performance Indicator (PI)

Each team’s strength of schedule is based on win percentages:

“Once the opponents’ average winning percentage (OWP) and opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage (OOWP) are calculated, they are to be combined on a weighted scale (e.g., 2/3 weight for OWP and 1/3 weight for OOWP) and this combined number becomes the strength of schedule.” [9]

The committee also receives input from each regional advisory committee to gain a deeper understanding of those under consideration:

“Additionally, input is provided by regional advisory committees for consideration by the football committee.” [9]

With representatives from each conference (and independents), the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) can provide additional insight and consideration into a smaller subset of teams. The division puts forth the following guidelines regarding RACs:

“Advisory committees should comprise a minimum of three members, but not more than one representative per institution.” [9]

“Each conference sponsoring the respective sport (with six or more members) must have equal representation. The co-chair is included in these representatives.” [9]

“Each eligible conference shall appoint two individuals to serve as its representatives on the respective sports’ RAC’s.” [9]

“At least one person should represent independent institutions if there are three to five independent institutions in the region. If there are more than six independent institutions in a region, then two individuals shall represent these institutions. The super region co-chairs are responsible for selecting independent representatives.” [9]

“The terms of RAC members are limited to three consecutive years, and a member may be reappointed only after having been off the committee for three consecutive years.” [9]

“A Division II governing sport committee must contact a RAC prior to making its final selection of teams or individuals if the committee selection differs from the RAC’s selection.” [9]

All eight teams in each Super Region are seeded together in the order of their ranking. The Division II Football Committee works to keep first and second round matchups geographically proximate while avoiding regular season rematches. To achieve this, the committee can pit any of the unseeded teams (5–8) against the seeded ones (1–4) in the first round and even move unseeded teams between Super Regions to mitigate travel. The playoff begins with all 32 teams participating in the first round. The second round victors advance to the quarterfinals, whose victors then advance to the semifinals. The committee reseeds the final four teams for the semifinals. The two remaining victors play at a designated neutral site in the Division II Championship where a national champion is ultimately crowned.

Bowl Games

The division sponsors a select number of bowl games for teams not competing in the playoffs. Each bowl has conference tie-ins and is played at a designated neutral site within the participating conferences’ geographical footprint to maintain regional relevance. Bowls organizers work closely with their host location to promote the culture, commerce, and nonprofit organizations within the local community. Bowl games also allow programs to learn, practice, and compete as a team for an additional week with the opportunity to put a bow on a successful regular season campaign.

Media Rights

Conferences and members (whether conference-affiliated or not) control their media rights arrangements. Conferences can, but are not required to, provide a media and broadcasting infrastructure for their members.

Some conferences procure agreements with subscription-based providers exclusively (e.g., FloSports). Other DII conferences broadcast games on a custom-built conference network. These networks are typically powered by industry-standard streaming platforms (e.g., HudlTV) and also allow institutions to enable a subscription service (i.e. a paywall) to generate additional revenue from viewership, should they choose. Conferences can also air games on a general streaming platform (e.g., YouTube) exclusively or in addition to another service. Instead of using a paywall, institutions can earn additional revenue from broadcasts with advertising.

Members are not mandated to exclusively utilize their conference’s media provider unless stated in the conference’s bylaws. Independents are free to broadcast games on any platform of their choosing.

Postseason participants may become subject to a new set of broadcasting agreements that take precedence over existing ones.

Recruitment

The NCAA’s recruiting standards are the most stringent and detailed in College Football. The association delegates the establishment and amendment of recruiting legislation to its divisions, as outlined in the Constitution:

“Division by-laws shall be designed to promote informed decisions and balance the interests of prospective and current (or transfer) student-athletes, their educational institution and intercollegiate athletics as a whole.” [6]

The bylaws address an all-encompassing range of scenarios, technicalities, and exceptions related to the recruiting guidelines in great detail. Authorized recruiters (recruiters) must understand the nuances of each type of recruiting activity, when they can engage in them, and which student-athletes are eligible for recruitment.

The NCAA defines a prospective student-athlete as a student who has started classes for the ninth grade. If a student, the student’s family, or the student’s close associate receives financial assistance or other benefits that the institution does not provide to prospective students generally, that student is also a prospective student-athlete regardless of the student’s grade.

The Division II recruiting infrastructure is more relaxed than Division I as it permits more staffers to engage in more activities during more frequent intervals throughout the year. All authorized athletics department staff members are permitted to engage in off-campus, in-person recruiting activities with a prospective student-athlete. The recruiting calendar is broken into two periods. The quiet period runs from June to July while the contact period runs from August to May with brief dead period exceptions for signing days, meaning recruiters can engage in all forms of recruiting activities for 10 months of the year. Any form of contact with a prospect is prohibited until the student-athlete’s junior year. A recruiter may contact and engage in activities with a transfer student once written permission has been obtained by the recruiter from the athletic department of the transfer student’s institution or the transfer himself.

Compensation For Athletes

Scholarships

Current/prospective student-athletes of an NCAA institution may be eligible to receive athletic scholarships depending on their institution’s classification. Each division and subdivision has its own regulations that outline what forms of institutional aid a student-athlete can receive.

Division II institutions are permitted to offer up to 36 “equivalency” scholarships to student-athletes, giving schools the flexibility to offer full and partial scholarships as they see fit. Similar to Division I, donors are permitted to contribute to a particular sport’s scholarship fund but are prohibited from directing the allocation of said funds:

“An individual may contribute funds to finance a scholarship or grant-in-aid for a particular sport, but the decision as to how such funds are to be allocated in the sport shall rest exclusively with the institution. It is not permissible for a donor to contribute funds to finance a scholarship or grant-in-aid for a particular student-athlete.” [2]

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL)

Effective July 2021, student-athletes in the association are permitted to leverage their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) for financial gain:

“An individual may receive compensation for the use of the individual’s name, image and likeness, which may be secured or compensated based, in whole or in part, on athletics skill or reputation. Name, image and likeness activities may not be used to compensate a student-athlete for athletics participation or achievement.” [10]

NIL activity is defined in each division’s bylaws as follows:

“Name, image and likeness activity is any activity that involves the commercial use of an individual’s name, image or likeness to advertise or endorse the sale or use of a product or service. Name, image and likeness compensation must include quid pro quo (e.g., compensation for work performed), not be contingent upon initial or continued enrollment at a particular institution, and not be in return for athletics participation or achievement.” [10]

Student-athletes are permitted to utilize professional service providers to broker NIL agreements between themselves and businesses. An NIL entity (collective) is:

“An individual, group of individuals or any other entity organized to support the athletics interest of an NCAA school or group of schools by compensating student-athletes for NIL activities on behalf of itself or another third party.” [11]

Collectives can facilitate, fund, and/or organize the disbursement of NIL funds from multiple entities toward student-athletes. Institutions are permitted to provide information about legislation, collectives, and a prospective entity to a student-athlete without becoming privy to those discussions or arrangements.

The association’s legislation strictly prohibits the inducement of a student-athlete via NIL agreement(s):

“Name, image and likeness activities may not be used as an inducement for an individual to enroll or remain enrolled at a specific institution.” [10]

A collective, individual, business, or other entity cannot compensate a student-athlete contingent on his performance, prospective enrollment at an institution, or in any other fashion that fits the association’s definition of “pay-for-play.” Institutions can establish more stringent rules governing NIL activities under their purview so long as they do not contradict state legislation permitting an athlete to earn based on his NIL.

References

1. History (May 4, 2021)
2. NCAA Division II Manual (2024-2025)
3. United States Code
4. Who are the NCAA Board of Governors (May 26, 2021)
5. How The NCAA Works (2024)
6. NCAA Constitution (2021)
7. How the NCAA Works - Division II
8. Division II approves automatic-qualification privileges for football (January 17, 2025)
9. NCAA Division II Prechampionship Manual (2024-2025)
10. NCAA Division I Manual (2024-2025)
11. Division I Council approves NIL disclosure and transparency rules (January 10, 2024)
12. Name, Image, Likeness (July 9, 2021)